A Night for All Souls

A Night for All Souls An interview with Paula Jardine by Megan Davies - BC Studies, no. 202 Summer 2019

In many cultures around the world, the days that cluster at the close of October and the beginning of November are a time for honouring the dead.

Our modern society has left these “village” customs behind. Yet Paula Jardine, who organizes All Souls at Vancouver's Mountain View Cemetery with fellow artist Marina Szijarto, tells us that we still hold the human impulses that led to these traditions.

Acknowledging our ancestors and the pain of grief is an inherently healing process.

The Night for All Souls is non-denominational and sacred, a revival of this civic cemetery in an increasingly secular and multicultural community. The candles stay lit from the Saturday before Halloween until the morning of the 2nd of November, which is the end of the orthodox observation of All Saints.

VILLAGE

REMEMBRANCE

RITUAL & BEAUTY

TENDER FEELINGS

VILLAGE

"That’s what we do because this is village culture and I think we all kind of relate to that. We feel good in a group, us social humans." Paula

Garlands are made by a volunteer flower brigade, many of whom come every year. Just before noon on the opening day, the brigade take their garlands out and attach them to the shrines. Then volunteers and the crew come together for lunch, acknowledging the shared labour of creating a space where love can unfold.

"Throughout the day cemetery staff and All Souls crew work together preparing the site. At sundown the first fires are lit, and we are ready to welcome the community." Paula

Dusk falls and people begin to arrive.

“Then we gather together at the fire to hear words of welcome.” Paula

Swedish logs or fire barrels are used to “ground” the site, as well as offer warmth.

"I think of the music like hands that hold us; being in a space with music is very healing. One year we had a living shrine to the late Canadian fiddler Oliver Schroer. The group of his students played Oliver's music as they walked through the cemetery, filling the air with his beautiful music." Paula

Choirs and processional bands are a moving element that travel the space of the cemetery, a line of sound that connects the dots of light. And people tag along and stop off at different places.

"And then we have the Chinese Pavilion where Walter Quan brings joss paper, and folds it, and talks about his family traditions. Little rituals evolve on their own at All Souls: Zeelia, the Ukrainian choir performs at the Chinese Pavilion, and Russell Wallace’s family group “T’sokam” do a Salish song exchange there." Paula

"When you come in, you go down a long walkway into the Celebration Hall and you are offered a cup of tea. There are beautiful tablecloths and flowers and these little boats with poems rolled up inside of them." Paula

REMEMBRANCE

"We have beautiful paper, candles, and votive jars that people can make into small tributes or memorials to take out and place on the public shrine or on personal graves. And people can look relatives up in the cemetery records and the staff will arrange to have a little flag put up on the graves." Paula

Memorial Making in the Great Hall

“Once people have created a tribute, they are invited to place it on a shrine or personal grave in the cemetery grounds... someplace that feels right.” Paula

RITUAL & BEAUTY

"Ceremony formalizes emotional experience and puts it in a frame that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. This principle, underscored with the basic theme of beauty, informs the planning and implementation of the event each year." Paula

Beauty is everywhere at All Souls. But it is the artists who lead in the act of making beauty, digging deep within to create shrines throughout the cemetery grounds that serve as vessels for strong feelings. At All Souls, art does not challenge, but holds, gently.

"An event like All Souls gives people the opportunity to develop their own traditions. It offers families a place to introduce the subject of our mortality to our children. By leaving memorials for grandparents and other ancestors, we acknowledge their presence in our lives." Paula

Many of the parents who take their children down to the infant area lost a young child before their other offspring were born. The infant cradles that Haruko Okano made for All Souls have resonated deeply, creating a perfect context for talking about a family's grief.

"Form and process are also important at All Souls. As theatre artists, we understand the power of a symbol, of doing things in a certain order, and the use of colour and light to affect experience." Paula

Flower Tree by artist Marina Szijarto - 2016

TENDER FEELINGS

"Our responsibility is to create space in which people could have their own experience, what we have come to refer to as a sanctuary for tender feelings. When we are unsure if something should be included, we try to imagine how it would feel if we had just lost someone." Paula

There are young people now in Vancouver who cannot remember a time – because they were too little or weren’t born – when there wasn’t a beautiful event in their cemetery to remember the dead.

"We have learned that unless artist shrines at All Souls are grounded in a deep personal need for an artist, they lack resonance. Intent is of central importance." Paula

This shrine was created by a pair of Vancouver artists to memorialize two elementary school classmates who were murdered. Each night the artists came to light the little candles hanging above the desks and put candy in the desks.

"At this event, simply by being present, we acknowledge our shared experience with grief, loss, and love. We inspire each other with our words, and the beauty of our creations. It is a very supportive environment – not sombre, but definitely caring and gentle." Paula

In 2006, artist Amir Ali Alibhai created this shrine to a daughter that died in infancy, inviting others to add flowers, leaves, and sticks to the rangoli. Over the evening a beautiful image emerged, cathartic for everyone who was part of its creation.

"This area of All Souls has taken on its own poignancy and power. The Red Dress Tree area is a manifestation of community grief, where people have asked for and helped create the shrines they need." Paula

Actor and musician Renae Morriseau is joined at the Red Dress Tree by other members of M'Girl, Indigenous female singers and storytellers. This shrine was inspired by Winnipeg artist Jaime Black who began hanging red dresses in places where Indigenous women had gone missing.

"The Suicide Tree offers an unspoken compassionate connection between sufferers that is noticeable. Then three years ago community people came forward, wanting to make a shrine for people who’d died from fentanyl overdose - completing a triangle in this area of the cemetery." Paula

The Suicide Tree at All Souls evolved into being one year and gratitude is expressed for its presence.

"On the last day we disassemble the shrines and gather up the notes that people have left. As dusk descends, we light a fire in a burning barrel and read the messages – in particular the names – out loud, before committing each and every piece of paper to fire. It is an informal, simple, and true ending." Paula

A quiet moment at Mountain View Cemetery at the close of All Souls - 2015

"It seems correct to me that the caring for the sacred resting place of the dead is a community-supported service. Mountain View Cemetery’s master plan contained a small but clear mandate for including public and community arts. This helped establish All Souls and allowed the event to continue and become a tradition." Paula

Paula Jardine is Artist in Residence at Vancouver's Mountain View Cemetery and Royal Oak Cemetery in Victoria: paulajardine.com For information about Night of All Souls: nightforallsouls.com

Appreciate